Tired of fighting, and largely losing, against the US in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, a group of Somali terrorists devised a strategy to take on the superpower in South Africa.The Sunday Tribune can reveal that the US's closure of its offices in the country was because of intercepted cellphone communication detailing planned attacks on American interests here. It is unclear whether American interests necessarily include a possible visit by US President Barack Obama for the official opening of the World Cup.Intelligence officers, according to two sources, intercepted a call made in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, to a group based in Somalia, and the conversation confirmed a plot to blow up American interests in South Africa last month.A source said US intelligence agents, South Africa's National Intelligence Agency and SAPS Crime Intelligence operatives launched a surveillance operation on the Cape-based group, gathering crucial information before the operation was thrown into disarray.NIA spokeswoman Lorna Daniels refused to comment yesterday, threatening legal action.As the embassies were closed just before Heritage Day, National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele went on TV to say the country's intelligence structures were on top of the situation. This, it was established, led to the group discarding the SIM cards and the phones they had used, to cover their tracks.The source said: "What has been established is that the Cape guys are linked to al-Qaeda cells in Somalia, who are connected to the group in Afghanistan. We have established that most al-Qaeda operatives are relocating from Afghanistan to Pakistan, attracted by increased lawlessness in Pakistan."Our information is that there is a trail that links Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and, most interestingly, Mozambique, where Somalis have formed an anti-US cell already. "The interception revealed that these people plan to move en masse from Mozambique to here (South Africa) in 2010 to attack American interests. Their point is that South Africa is not a target, but if South Africans are caught in the crossfire, then that would be unfortunate.".US embassy spokeswoman Sharon Hudson-Dean said: "We don't comment on intelligence matters."An NIA official said yesterday: "This is classified information. If you publish it, this will jeopardise an operation already under way". The source said this was untrue because Cele had already said publicly that intelligence officers were on the trail of the extremists - which is why they changed phones and went to ground without arrests."The US was right to take these people seriously because we now know that these people have links with shady characters who have access to old military hardware in Eastern Europe," said the source.Rich Mkhondo, the chief communications officer for the Fifa 2010 World Cup Organising Committee South Africa, said security for the event was provided by the state. The Mozambican embassy could not be reached yesterday.This article was originally published on page 1 of The Sunday Tribune on October 11, 2009
OR http://www.capeargus.co.za/?fSectionId=3571&fArticleId=vn20091011085002653C456708
2010 terror plot: 'SA not ready'
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